In Europa Universalis II, land movement time is the number of days required for a land unit to move to another province. Note that the province a land unit is currently in has no effect on its movement time, except that boarding ships is faster from a province with a port than one without.
Single-Province Move Time[]
| Destination Terrain | Cavalry | Infantry | Artillery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean (boarding) | 10.0 | 15.0 | 20.0 |
| Plains | 10.0 | 15.0 | 20.0 |
| Desert, Forest | 12.5 | 18.75 | 25.0 |
| Swamp | 15.0 | 22.5 | 30.0 |
| Mountains | 17.5 | 26.25 | 35.0 |
| Crossing a river | +5.0 | +7.5 | +10.0 |
| Crossing a strait | +10.0 | +15.0 | +20.0 |
A single-province move is a move from a province to an adjacent province. To calculate a land unit's movement time, use the following procedure:
- look up the basic movement time in the table to the right, according to the terrain in the destination province. An army moves at the speed of its slowest unit type. Note that infantry move times are always 1.5 that of cavalry, and artillery is twice that of cavalry.
- add to the movement time extra time to cross water (a river or strait), again according to the table to the right.
- divide by 2, if you are unloading troops to a port province controlled by you and no enemy is present there.
- divide by 2, if you are boarding ships in a fast northern sea zone.
- multiply by 2, if you are boarding ships and do not have port access.
- multiply by 2, if the destination province is in Africa, Tibet, northern Canada, Alaska, Kamchatka, or Greenland.
- multiply by 3, if the province you are moving to is terra incognita and you have a conquistador (multiply by 6, if you don't have a conquistador). This step provides an approximation. Actual exploration time may depend on movement ability of leader.
Finally, for single-province moves only:
- truncate the result to get an integer.
Multiple-Province Moves[]
A multiple-province move is a move in which a unit moves through at least one province. The time required for multiple province moves is computed much the same as that for a series of single-province moves. However, the final truncation only happens for the total time required for the complete movement. Thus, it is possible to slightly speed up land movement in some types of terrain, simply by ordering a unit to move first to province A, and then (when it arrives) to province B, instead of ordering a two-province move A then B.
For example, consider a situation where you want to move a pure cavalry unit through a mountain province to a desert province. If you give the unit a single order, the total time required will be 17.5 days plus 12.5 days, equals 30 days total. So, the move requires a full month, meaning it cannot be done without movement attrition. But if you do the move first ordering the cavalry to the mountains, that move takes just 17 days. And a subsequent move to the desert takes 12 days. So the move when broken down takes just 29 days.